“Our volunteers don’t just hand out the meals, but stay with the guests, eat with the guests, and pray with the guests.”

Elizabeth Mabie
Spur Ottawa Writer

The Metropolitan Bible Church’s (MET) 30-year-old outreach program, Bridges, received a structural makeover this fall. The ministry was essentially re-imagined to continue providing Ottawa’s marginalized with food, faith, and fellowship after COVID-19 regulations prevented them from gathering.

Last year, the leaders and volunteers of Bridges welcomed guests at Peace Tower Church for hot meals and Bible studies. They met every Tuesday evening until provincial restrictions shut them down.

“We were closed just because of COVID. Before that we were going strong,” states Isaac Kim, Bridges’ ministry leader and coordinator. “Since then, we’ve re-evaluated and thought of a different way to do this while respecting the public health guidelines.”

Kim and the team prayed throughout the summer, asking God for a solution that would meet the needs of their guests. After ruling out several ideas, the Bridges team settled on a creative option that enables them to keep the relational and evangelistic goals of Bridges. Rather than having guests come to them, this past fall Bridges trained teams of volunteers to meet with small groups of guests in the guests’ own neighbourhoods.

“We create these ‘bridges’ so we can develop healthy relationships where we can encourage them from the Word.”

“This allows us to maintain a ‘bubble’ concept for the guests, solves the spacing and distancing issues in the church, and keeps the personal touch,” explains Dan Byrne, city lead at Connecting Streams. “Our volunteers don’t just hand out the meals, but stay with the guests, eat with the guests, and pray with the guests.”

Bridges is a partnership between The MET, Peace Tower Church, and Connecting Streams. All three were involved in Bridges’ COVID-cautious re-launch. The program has, nine kitchen volunteers, four volunteers who oversee prayer, and 14 volunteers who make up the outreach teams. This dedicated crew ensures that the ministry is so much more than just a food distribution service.

“We call it a meal-and-a-message ministry because, while we do provide a healthy meal, it is a bridge to share God’s message of salvation and love to guests,” shares Sandra Tharakan, the MET city outreach coordinator. “We create these ‘bridges’ so we can develop healthy relationships where we can encourage them from the Word.”

The team seeks to be available to pray with their guests and share their journeys in the good and bad times. Through these relationships, they want participants to know they are loved, not only by the Bridges team, but by God more than anyone.

“We hope people will come to know and treasure the Gospel and know Christ personally.”

“No matter what they have been through or have done, God is a merciful, loving god who has created them for a purpose,” says Tharakan. “We want to help them know God and His Word so they can discover their purpose and live a life that glorifies Him.”

To comply with social distancing rules, the team generally met with guests outside. As the weather turned colder and the sun set earlier, meeting outside became impractical so Bridges has paused for the next couple months. However, the team hopes to recruit more churches and individuals to increase their capacity to reach the city’s marginalized in the spring.

“We hope people will come to know and treasure the Gospel and know Christ personally,” says Kim. “That’s the main goal and prayer as we do our ministry in this new way and as we expand and reach out to more of the community.”